Dimensions of the Sanctuary

Ezekiel 41:1-12

Dimensions of the Sanctuary
1 Then he brought me into the sanctuary and measured the doorposts, six cubits wide on one side and six cubits wide on the other side—the width of the tabernacle. 2 The width of the entryway was ten cubits, and the side walls of the entrance were five cubits on this side and five cubits on the other side; and he measured its length, forty cubits, and its width, twenty cubits.

3 Also he went inside and measured the doorposts, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits high; and the width of the entrance, seven cubits. 4 He measured the length, twenty cubits; and the width, twenty cubits, beyond the sanctuary; and he said to me, "This is the Most Holy Place."

The Side Chambers on the Wall
5 Next, he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits. The width of each side chamber all around the temple was four cubits on every side. 6 The side chambers were in three stories, one above the other, thirty chambers in each story; they rested on ledges which were for the side chambers all around, that they might be supported, but not fastened to the wall of the temple. 7 As one went up from story to story, the side chambers became wider all around, because their supporting ledges in the wall of the temple ascended like steps; therefore the width of the structure increased as one went up from the lowest story to the highest by way of the middle one. 8 I also saw an elevation all around the temple; it was the foundation of the side chambers, a full rod, that is, six cubits high. 9 The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits, and so also the remaining terrace by the place of the side chambers of the temple. 10 And between it and the wall chambers was a width of twenty cubits all around the temple on every side. 11 The doors of the side chambers opened on the terrace, one door toward the north and another toward the south; and the width of the terrace was five cubits all around.

The Building at the Western End
12 The building that faced the separating courtyard at its western end was seventy cubits wide; the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits.

The sanctuary was measured and shown to be as wide as the tabernacle itself from doorpost to doorpost.  The entry and side walls were also measured for the reader to get an understanding and mental image of the scene.  Ezekiel went inside in this vision and continued measuring the length and width of the Most Holy Place where the high priest met at the mercy seat of God.  Next he left that sacred place where God would meet with man for atonement of confessed sin, the true confessional booth where God is confessed to, and went on measuring the inside of the temple proper.  The Most Holy Place was not one to find absolution from the priest but from the LORD as the one high priest interceded, unlike the perversion we see in the bad practice emanating out of the See of man’s weak imitation of the Most Holy.  In the temple, Ezekiel went on to measure the walls and self standing side rooms which were three high and went from small to bigger as the step ledges permitted by design.  These were all on a raised foundation and their walls had their thickness accounted for as well by the prophet.  Then a building on the western end then stood in the courtyard to provide a divider was analyzed for good measure and a more compete picture for the reader and hearer of this book.  If this amount of dimensional detail is given here as a shadow of a future temple (Hebrews 9:11-12), just imagine what the New Jerusalem will look like where the Almighty and the Lamb of God are its true temple (Revelation 21:22).  What dimensions will be seen and experienced in His presence to worship forever!  What a contrast with this vision of a replacement for the destroyed temple in old Jerusalem!  We can only read and wonder at that Most Holy wonder to come.  These are the Dimensions of the Sanctuary in a glimpse of detail of its height, width, and depth as a foretaste of the Most Holy where God truly dwells with man!